Wellbeing News

Welcome back to SMDP for 2024. We are excited to see all our students and families back and look forward to sharing our wellbeing news with you this year. 

The members of our Wellbeing Team are: 

• Kathy Blythe - Wellbeing Leader 
• Chiara Genovese - Learning Diversity Leader and 
• Simone Whitehead - Family Engagement Leader.

Starting the New School Year on the Right Foot

by Melbourne Child Psychology & School Psychology Services, Port Melbourne

Summer holidays have been and gone, and the beginning of the new school year has started. The transition from long days and late bedtimes back to a rigid routine can be a bit of a shock to the system.

Here are some top tips for making 2024 a successful school year for your child. 

Having a consistent routine in place will help them to feel secure and safe, and support the development of positive life long habits.

Routine also teaches and creates boundaries, which can be especially useful in monitoring their technology usage and screen time.

A good amount of sleep is incredibly important in a growing child’s life, and has a direct impact on their performance at school.

The key to a good routine is creating balance between school work, family time, exercise, socialising and play (among others).

Outdoor or creative activities are particularly good for both physical and mental health.

Just a few small steps each day can make schooling and home life easier, more productive and less stressful.

So in the early stages of the first term, sit down with your child and talk about how you can come up with a good plan together that will support them in everything they want to achieve in the coming year.

And when things go wrong or a spanner is thrown into the works — don’t stress!

Slipping up on good habits from time to time is inevitable, and with those habits ingrained in your daily life, the slip-ups will be much easier to recover from.

Here’s to your child’s best school year yet!

Chiara Genovese

Learning Diversity Leader